In Pace Decus, In Bello Praesidium
by ZeroSh0ck
Summary: In Peace, a Glorious Asset. In War, a Tower of Strength. When aristocrats and commoners converge into a single team, there are bound to be some issues. Unfortunately, team DRKN will have to sort out its differences quickly, because stirring on the borders of Vale is a darkness that they'll have to confront. Sooner or later, everyone has to face their past.
1. Beginnings

A ballroom lit brilliantly by crystal chandeliers. Men in tuxedos dancing with women wearing fine silk dresses and glittering pearls. A band playing a soft orchestral score in the background as people danced refinedly on the ballroom floor. Surrounded by the trappings of high society, Darien du Corteaux suppressed an exasperated sigh as his face maintained a facade of shallow enjoyment. _Damn, I could have sworn my parents promised not to do anything over the top! 'A party for relatives?' Half the bloody upper crust of Vale is here!_ Fuming silently, he grabbed a nearby glass of champagne and sipped it in a controlled manner, careful not to let his internal frustration leak out. He couldn't really fault his parents for wanting to do this, though. After all, he had just been accepted to the prestigious Beacon Academy, one of the leading schools on the continent for training hunters and huntresses to fight the Grimm that continued to plague humans on the frontier. His parents looked overjoyed, though one could see the clouds hanging over them if one looked closely enough.

"Honestly, it's not your fault I'm like this," Darien muttered under his breath as he took another sip, careful to make sure he was taking a supplemental pill that allowed him to retain clear thought under the influence of alcohol. Glancing around the ballroom, he spotted his parents merrily chatting away with his grandparents, the esteemed former Count and Countess du Corteaux. At a hearty age of 65, grandfather Jebraham still laughed as raucously as he did during his time in the service thirty years prior, although grandmother generally reminded him of his station from time to time. Of course, they were all happy that he could make it into Beacon - especially after an experimental operation gone awry had taken away his ability to ever become athletically durable. Even till today, it was reflected in every action his father and mother took that they blamed themselves for him not being able to enjoy a normal life. And Darien took it upon himself to prove that he could still be who he wanted to be and that he appreciated what they had done for him despite how the operation had turned out.

Of course, those feelings of appreciation weren't quite able to match his irritation at the moment. Even now, he was referred to as the young Count, under the control of his own sizeable plot of land located elsewhere in Vale. Being that he had a strong aversion to being recognized by his social station, a fancy ball like this which had most of the nobility in Vale in attendance put his nerves on end. _I can only take so much sycophancy_. Replacing his now empty champagne glass with another, Darien quietly slipped onto the balcony without anyone noticing and heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank the gods, I couldn't take much of that any longer."

"Who are you?"

Spinning around, Darien let slip a small look of alarm. _Damn it, I let my guard down a little!_

"My apologies, madam. I am Darien du Corteaux." Darien bowed, only raising his head at the sound of giggling in the background.

"Hey, Kaede, this guy's a real piece of work, isn't he?" a voice said mischievously. Looking up, Darien was confronted by two girls wearing dresses of the same style, one colored a light forest green while the other was a pure white with accoutrements of sky blue.

"Raena, that is the son of nobility you are referring to as 'a piece of work.'" The girl named Kaede replied calmly, her white dress shimmering slightly in the moonlight. "It's only common courtesy amongst those who are high born to bow in greeting." In return the girl did a small curtsy, bowing her head towards Darien. "I am Kaede Engel. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Yeah, but the way he did it was just so stiff! I felt like I was looking at a robot or something," said Raena, clearly enjoying poking fun at Darien's expense. "It doesn't feel natural at all!"

Despite himself, Darien could feel a small surge of anger at the insult. "And you, madam? I don't believe I caught your name." He said this almost robotically, detaching himself from his emotions so that he would not accidentally cause insult. After all, the daughters of his parents esteemed guests would consider any slight against them as paramount to insults towards their parents.

The girl only smirked, mockingly copying Kaede's curtsy. "My name is Raena Argyros," she said, moving her emerald green hair back so that Darien could see her face properly. "I'm not a part of you upper-crusters, so don't mind me~"

"I see. Well, if you would excuse me." Bowing his head slightly, Darien curtly turned to return to the ballroom when Kaede called out from behind him.

"Pardon me, but you are the grandson of the Count du Corteaux, are you not?" Kaede addressed him politely, though her eyes were icily devoid of emotion. Darien could almost feel his person being chilled to the bone, but he maintained eye contact before answering.

"Yes. This ball was mainly thrown in my honor, although I don't really think the occasion calls for it." Darien allowed himself to rub at his forehead in vexation.

"Ah, I take it you don't enjoy this type of thing?" Kaede walked closer to him until they were standing face to face, her expression still carefully meticulous to betray nothing but politeness.

"No. To be honest, I wish I weren't of the nobility at all. It only seems to make things more difficult for me when everyone avoids me because of my high station."

At this Kaede's expression warmed somewhat. "See, Raena? He isn't the sort of character you took him for. At the very least, he's not a 'prick' as you referred to him earlier."

At this, Raena only gave a small harrumph. "He's still a bit uptight, and he gives off this aura like he's better than you, but I guess he's not _that_ bad." Appraising him with new eyes, Raena made no attempt to hide the look of disappointment on her face. "Still, he doesn't look like he's cut out for Beacon. He's a scrawny twig!"

_Does this girl know no end to her rudeness?_ Darien wondered curiously to himself while swallowing down the sudden urge to return the insult in kind. "I take it you two are also attending Beacon?"

"Yes. Raena and I are to be incoming freshmen at Beacon this year, the same as you. It's only by coincidence that I happened to meet you tonight, since my father was in Vale on some passing business."

"Your father wouldn't happen to be Roger Engel, would it?" Darien asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Ah, so I see you're familiar with my father."

"Less familiar with the man than with the company. His domination of the Dust economy in Mistral is comparable to that of the Schnee corporation here in Vale. It must be impressive seeing a man like him in action on a day to day basis." Darien said respectfully. While not well known in Vale, the Engel Dust Conglomerate was known in Mistral as a highly-successful Dust operation that controlled it's production from mining to refining and selling commercially. Environmentalists decried their methods of landstripping as detestable, but Darien admired Roger Engel for his innovative business strategy and soft arm tactics in regards to continuously improving and refining Dust minerals.

"Yes, indeed," Kaede said happily enough, though her eyes betrayed a slight glint of sadness. "I'm glad that you hold my father in such high regard."

While Darien pondered over why the daughter of Robert Engel should have such a sad expression while talking about her father, Raena rudely grabbed him by the shoulder. "Hey, you. Just where do you think you're looking at, hmmm?"

"I - wha?" Disturbed from his thoughts, Darien suddenly realized that his gaze had been directed towards Kaede's chest, which was rather sensuously outlined by the cut of her dress. At the implication, he began to blush violently and averted his gaze, opting to reaffix the position of his glasses instead. "What do you take me for, a pervert?" he said, unable to hide his embarrassment.

"Not like I can't understand you, of course~" Raena replied in a sing-songy voice. "Kaede does have a rather nice body, after all. All the boys over at Sanctum were heads over heels for her in their final year."

"Raena!" Kaede said, seemingly at a loss for words as she blushed slightly. "I- I!"

"Right, right. Sorry, Kaede, got a little carried away," replied Raena while teasingly propping up her own chest. "After all, my breasts look like tiny mounds compared to yours. I'm jealous, really!"

Unable to hold back her mortification, Kaede quickly moved to stifle Raena before she said anything else only to miss and have Raena escape back into the ballroom. "Catch me if you can, Kaede!" she yelled back, her face the very picture of devilish amusement.

"My apologies, Darien." Kaede sighed softly as she watched the retreating figure of her friend become lost in a crowd of respectable gentlemen. "Raena is a bit...wild."

"Is that so? I thought she was a rather pleasant young lady," Darien muttered, unable to keep his emotions in check from the absurdity of it all.

Kaede looked at him in amusement, though her eyes remained steadfast. "Perhaps we could meet again? I'd love to talk now, but if I leave Raena alone for more than a couple of minutes she might set fire to the ballroom."

"Of course." Thanking the powers that be that it was dark enough on the balcony to hide the rose tinge of his face, Darien held the door open as Kaede re-entered the ballroom. "Feel free to call on me at any time. I'm sure there is much we could discuss in regards to ours studies."

"I'll take you up on that," she replied, smiling gently as she re-entered the ballroom. As soon as she left, Darien retook his place at the balcony rail and sighed.

"What… was that, exactly?" Darien muttered to himself, his face still somewhat hot with his blush. "I'm guess I'm not really good with handling women...right?" Staring at the star-filled twilight sky, Darien abandoned all decorum and tossed back the rest of his champagne down his throat before returning to the ballroom on his own. _It seems like it's going to be an interesting school year. And now that I think about it, would that technically classify as a date? At the very least, it's a future engagement that I must be careful to keep in mind. _

Upon re-entering the ballroom, he was immediately gestured to by his parents. "Yes, father?" Darien asked with perfect poise, well aware of the attention he was receiving from the dignitaries in his father's presence.

"Darien, my son, there is no need to stand on ceremony with me," Jarvus du Corteaux replied warmly, a smile dominating his craggy face. "You are now a man in your own right," he said as he gently thumped his son's shoulders with both of his hands.

"I am a man now, yes, but you are still my father and the Count du Corteaux. That is enough cause for me to show my respect," Darien said smoothly, bowing as he did so much to the pleasure of those around him.

"My, you certainly have raised a good man. The very model of a polite son, and able too to get into Beacon!" tittered a baroness, flapping her fan vigorously to ward off the ballroom's stifling heat.

Darien smiled with as much charm as he could muster. "Hardly, my lady. My entrance to Beacon was only made possible through the efforts of my parents, for which I love them dearly. It is not only my achievement, but theirs as well."

"Oh, and such humility! Count Jarvus, do send your son to our manse one of these days! I am sure the elder madame would enjoy such an outstanding youth for company!" At that, the baroness returned to the dance floor while Jarvus motioned for some privacy between himself and Darien. "Darien, my boy, are you alright?" Although his voice did not express it, Jarvus' eyes were filled with worry. "I know that your condition is harsh, and I… I wouldn't want to see you collapse."

"I'm fine, father." Darien stated in what he thought was an assuring tone. "There's nothing to be done about it now. The paperwork is all filled out, afterall."

"Yes, but we could always withdraw you, if you wished to?" his father asked in an uncharacteristically feebly voice, sounding very much like the defeated man who learned for the first time about Darien's permanent disability.

"Now dear, I thought we agreed we would allow Darien to follow his own path," chided Josephine du Corteaux as she took her husband's arm.

"I know, I know…" Jarvus let loose a sigh before returning his gaze to his son. "It's just that it's still shocking. To think that you applied and were accepted without my knowledge…"

"Is it that surprising that I would want to follow in your footsteps, father?" Darien asked, his eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"No! But there are so many easier things that you could do. Things that your blasted lungs wouldn't get in the way of. That can't get you killed. Could you not be satisfied with being my heir?"

"Father, I respect you, but that comment is an insult to all the training I have done over the past ten years." Darien replied coldly, though the expression on his face remained civil so as not to attract the attention of the guests around them. "I want to be my own man, father. To _make_ something of myself. I don't want to be like the rest of the nobility that just inherit into their position and do nothing worthwhile. Just because my lungs are slightly disabled doesn't mean that I can't be a hunter."

"Blast, Darien, I just-"

"Please, father, just stop." Darien said, a hand raised as if to ward off what he knew his father was about to say. "I am not going to change my mind."

Jarvus looked as if he were about to say something more, but changed his mind and donned an outward facade of joviality. "Very good then, son. I beg you, please do look after yourself." Still holding his wife by the arm, Jarvus walked out onto the ballroom floor and started to waltz to the music, though there was no energy in his movements anymore.

As Darien looked on, he spotted Raena from the corner of his eye at the refreshment table stuffing her mouth with h'orderves while evading capture from an increasingly frustrated Kaede. _It appears that tomorrow will be a very interesting day_, he thought to himself as he prepared to re-enter the ballroom floor himself to dance the night away. _After all, I doubt life will be the same for me again after I finally enter that place where my father and grandfather entered before me._

Tomorrow would mark his first day at Beacon.


	2. Into the Emerald Forest

After his short flight through the air, Darien struggled to control his breathing. _That's one excitement I hope I'll never have to repeat._ Taking deep, shuddering breaths, Darien forced himself to pace his lungs until his breathing had equalized to a relatively stable rate. "'Figure out how to land on your own,' he says! Blood and bones, Professor Ozpin knows how to take us out on a spin." Feeling that he was now completely calm, Darien silently dropped to the forest floor and assessed the environment around him. "Seems like there aren't any Grimm in this part of the forest - _yet_."

After assessing himself to be safe, Darien allowed some of the tension to drain from his shoulders, though he still kept himself wary of what could be around him. After all, with the way Ozpin had started this test, he couldn't afford to be caught off-guard again. _But honestly, what living human being could predict that they're going to be launched through the air, I ask you!_

It certainly alarmed Darien to no end when he discovered through first-hand experience that Ozpin literally meant to drop them into the Emerald Forest. After he had finally worked his mind around the concept, he found himself already flying through the air and quickly activated his Convertible Multi-Shot Archer Gauntlets' grappling hooks to cinch himself into a nearby tree. What he did not take into account, however, was that his particular tree of choice would not be able to withstand the force of a body being flung 60 mph.

With a resounding crack, the branch that Darien had hooked onto broke off, causing him to be in freefall as the forest floor rushed up to meet him. It was only by a stroke of good luck that his fall was broken by other branches along the way, leaving him noticeably bruised but in one piece.

Rubbing his arms in an attempt to alleviate the pain that comes with something being almost wrenched out from his sockets, Darien almost failed to notice another presence that was casually approaching from behind him. _It's not malicious… which means it's not Grimm_. Being reminded of the professor's words before launching his peers into the air, Darien quickly dove into a nearby bush and drew up his camouflage cloak around himself before becoming completely still.

The art of unseen movement, one of the skills that his father had taught to him personally, was a hard-won but undeniably invaluable tool for reconnaissance. By taking advantage of one's surroundings and basic human nature, a hunter skilled in unseen movement could literally move across almost any terrain undetected to the human eye. Aided by a camouflage cloak that broke up the hunter's form, a hunter could realistically walk right under a Grimm's nose and not be detected; when staying completely still, someone could be staring right at the hunter and not realize that the hunter is there since they don't expect to see anything there.

This skill proved useful to Darien now, who had no desire to be partnered to someone else so arbitrarily. _At the very least, I'll want someone competent enough to detect my presence even if they aren't conscious of the fact that it's my presence they're detecting,_ he thought disdainfully to himself, recalling his other 'esteemed' peers of whom he currently thought very little. _Battle-maniacs and high-born pricks, the lot of them._

Which is ironic, considering that Darien himself came from the very same "high-born" pricks he despised.

Twigs snapped underfoot as the figure approached until it finally emerged from the foliage to reveal a tanned tall and muscular guy with a mop of tousled black hair. "Phew, this forest sure is hard to navigate," the figure commented cheerily to himself as he picked leaves and random foliage off his white silk shirt. Closer observation revealed a double holster of black leather on the guy's right side holding two conventional pistols, while an Estoc was sheathed to his left. Both appeared to have been heavily used, which brightened Darien's evaluation of this potential partner.

Darien's eyes continued to follow him as he walked across the clearing in an outwardly relaxed but carefully calculated manner, observing that he left no opportunity for anything to ambush him unawares. _He's good. I might actually have to relocate and introduce myself more appropriately after he's gone,_ Darien thought to himself as Nieve stopped at the edge of the clearing.

"If whatever is hiding in there doesn't come out in the next five seconds, I can't be held responsible for what might happen to them," he commented lightly to the open space, his eyes suddenly showing the steel resolve of someone experienced with being in a fight. As he said this, he casually unsheathed his estoc and held it at a fencer's position, lightly poised on his feet as if ready to attack empty air if needed.

At this, Darien froze as incredulity involuntarily took over his thoughts. _Could he actually detect me? Damn it! I've gotten careless,_ he fumed silently to himself, taking care not to make a single movement for risk of being detected - after all, the slightest deviation from the environment around him would break the illusion of camouflage being provided by his cloak.

Without warning, the boy stepped to the right and thrust violently into the brush just in front of him, and squeals of pain filled the air as an injured hog broke loose from the foliage and ran away screeching. Almost immediately, he dropped his guard and smiled sheepishly. "Looks like it was nothing after all," he grinned as he sheathed his estoc.

Darien suppressed a severe urge to slam his face into a tree. _I can't believe I got thrown off that hard by his lucky guess. It looks like I lack training,_ he thought as he sighed wordlessly, getting ready to relocate before he sensed another presence in his peripheral vision. _What is this feeling? Dark, bloodthirsty… GRIMM._

Almost immediately, Darien sprang from his hiding place much to the surprise of the boy who was only a couple feet away from him. "Wha- how- what the hell?!" exclaimed Nieve as he reflexively reached for his weapons.

Darien paid him no heed as he quickly activated his weapon's second form, turning his left gauntlet into a metallic longbow that expanded into his left hand. He instinctively reached out behind him and drew a specially enhanced fire dust arrow from his quiver before notching it and releasing into the air. The whole process took about half a second, and the arrow just missed Nieve's cheek as it flew into the head of the Beowolf that was running towards them. As the head of the wolf burst into flames, Darien could hear the call of other wolves that were closing in on their location, most likely drawn by the squealing hog Nieve had stabbed earlier. This translated to a pack of angry, bloodthirsty Grimm that was now running straight towards them. "That was bloody foolish," he growled to himself as an afterthought, grabbing more arrows from his quiver and stabbing them into the ground for easier access.

His dumbfounded compatriot, meanwhile, had quickly regained his senses and now had his estoc and Glock 39 pistol in hand. Taking up a defensive position behind Darien, he could only grin. "So I'm guessing the dinner and movie comes before introductions?" he said playfully, clearly not taking in the gravity of the situation.

"Very funny," Darien replied humorlessly, his eyes scanning the forest in front of him to make out any visual confirmation of the impending ursa horde. "To be quite frank with you, I'm not confident we're going to get out of this unscathed."

"We'll be fine," he replied confidently. "You've got some good shooting skills on that bow there."

"That compliment is useless from you, considering that you probably don't have the first idea about how a bow works," Darien said coldly.

He shrugged. "True. But I can acknowledge good aim, can't I?"

Darien ignored his last comment, now just catching his first sight of their real problem. "For your sake, I hope you're good with that sword." _Eight, nine, ten… we're facing at least twelve wolves. Maybe more. Damnation. Honestly, the best plan would be to run and pick them off from a distance, but sniping would be piss-poor with this many trees blocking my line of sight, and those pistols don't look like they have a range greater than a hundred feet. Running away completely isn't an option either, once a Beowolf locks on to your scent they'll chase you to the ends of the earth… unless you can out-stealth them._

With the bare bones of a plan to save their arses being formed in his mind, Darien realized that the first wave was almost within his definite kill range - with his longbow of a hundred pound draw weight, anything within one hundred and fifty feet might as well be at point blank for him. "Get ready," he said, teeth gritted in concentration as he notched more arrows onto his bow.

"Just watch me." With a dazzling smile, the boy leapt into action and engaged the first wolf, where he became completely surrounded almost immediately. Moving between them with movements resembling flowing water, the boy began a complicated dance of footwork and sword mastery as he began his assault on the wolves.

Darien appraised his skill and nodded slightly in approval. _This one will do_, he thought to himself as he turned to address the remaining wolves. Grabbing arrows from the dirt in front of him, he quickly notched three of them in succession onto his bow before releasing them into the air. Not even waiting to see if he had hit his targets, Darien was notching the next three arrows as the first ones found contact. Two hit two different wolves in the head, while the third pierced its way into a wolf's chest. But now the remaining pack was too close to engage safely from a distance. "I really wish I could have avoided this," he said apprehensively as he prepared to transform Wolfsbane into it's gauntlet state.

As his longbow broke down in a series of clicks, Darien checked to make sure his supply of darts had been replenished. "Looks like everything is good," he said before breaking out in a run towards the incoming pack. As the first wolves came upon him, he somersaulted into the air and began to use the second component of his Convertible Multi-shot Archer Gauntlets - the wrist-mounted crossbow.

As he twisted his body through the air, Darien began to pump darts into the wolves below. His wrist-bows were capable of firing multiple shots off at once without the need to reload, and he used this feature now as he fired dust-enhanced darts into the mass of black fur below him. Suddenly, it seemed as if nature were at war with itself on a smaller scale, with ice and fire spreading in equal proportions while other wolves were knocked into trees from wind darts. But no matter how many he incapacitated, they just kept coming. Landing lightly on his feet, he fired a grappling hook from his wrist-bow onto a branch and quickly ascended to a safe vantage spot where he could finally direct his attention to the boy. _The situation looks rather grim_, he thought darkly to himself.

On the forest floor, the boy seemed to be at the ends of his strength. Sweat gleamed on his face as he once again plunged his estoc into the dying wolf to deliver the killing blow before rolling away to dodge another that leapt at his face. The corpses of three or four wolves surrounded him along with twice that amount of living ones, and if left like this he would most likely get killed. "Hey, you!" Darien yelled out. "We're getting out of here!"

"Uh, kind of hard to do that at the moment!" he yelled back as he lunged at yet another wolf only to have his blow miss. "Got any other plans, boss?!"

"How good are you with flying?"

"What did you just- WUMHP!" The boy wheezed as Darien's wiry frame slammed into his own body.

Darien winced at the contact. _This guy is packing a lot more muscle than I am_, he thought as he immediately clipped the boy's belt to his own. "Don't puke." he said calmly as he fired another grappling hook into a tree that was farther away. He took one more glance at the slavering wolves around them before they were reeled into the air by the powerful mechanisms in his wrist-bow gauntlet.

Darien continued to flee like this for the next couple minutes, awkwardly trying to keep hold of the taller boy's frame as they were propelled from tree to tree. "Could your body be any more unwieldy?" he muttered as he latched onto yet another tree branch.

"What was that?" moaned the boy that was in Darien's unfortunate grip, clearly not in the best state. In fact, his complexion was quickly approaching a greenish tinge, something that Darien observed with fascination considering he'd never experienced the same.

"Nothing, just keep your mouth shut and puke away from me if you have to." _Although I would prefer if you didn't, considering we're trying to throw the Grimm off our trail._

When his arms started to feel like leaden blocks, Darien stopped at one of the larger trees in the forest. He unceremoniously dumped the boy onto the branch, making sure to attach both of their belts to the tree via rope to serve as a makeshift safety should they fall. "Stay still and don't move. With any luck, we're too high up for them to smell us. We're upwind of them too."

"Aye aye, captain," the boy warbled, still disoriented from his flying adventure.

The two of them remained hunched over, with Darien's eyes scanning the ground below for any trace of the Grimm. As the minutes passed by, the howling sounds slowly grew softer and softer until they stopped altogether, causing Darien to release a small sigh of relief.

"So… that was interesting," commented the voice behind him lightly.

Darien turned around to see his new partner already revitalized and swinging his legs in the air as he sat on the branch. "Oh yes, it was very interesting to almost lose our limbs to a pack of Beowolves," Darien said dryly as he rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah, I owe you one, partner," he replied with a wide grin while extending his hand for a handshake. "My name's Nieve. Nieve Navarro. Nice to meet you."

"Darien du Corteaux. I suppose you'll do as far as partners go." Darien stared distastefully at the offered hand before turning away. "Come on. We have a relic to collect." Without another word, Darien clipped Nieve's belt back onto his own before lining up his crossbows with the next tree in the direction of the temple.

Nieve shook his head, oblivious to Darien's preparations. "Yeesh, be a little warmer will you? You city kids really need to learn how to lighten uUUUUUUUUUP?!" he yelled out as he began to fly through the air against his will for the third time in the past hour.


	3. Relics

"Score!" Raena yelled out triumphantly as she grabbed a glowing white queen from the pedestal it stood on. Standing at the center of the temple surrounded by a half-circle of pedestals, she grinned at Kaede as she twirled the chess piece around her finger. "I don't see what's so special about these 'relics' though, they look like regular ol' chess pieces to me."

"Regardless, it's what professor Ozpin asked of us, so it must hold some importance," replied Kaede as she shifted her sheathed Zweihander to a more comfortable position on her back. Clad in a titanium alloy armor with a tan cloak draped around her shoulders, Kaede cut an imposing figure made even more so by the fact that her face was fully hidden by her German sallet helmet; she looked the very image of a knight of yore, and just the sight of her would make any enemy think twice before messing with them.

Raena, on the other hand, presented a very violent contrast. Where Kaede appeared well-armored and formidable, Raena paled in comparison clad only in her leather chestplate and vambraces. Her legs were partly protected by an armored skirt, revealing pale white thighs that were toned with the muscle of someone who has been steadily training since birth. Her outfit was completed with a forest green cloak, atop of which was strapped an imposing scutum shield. In her hand she held a spatha long sword, completing her appearance as a lightly armored legionnaire. "Ozpin, smoz pin. Did you hear that he let some _fifteen-year old girl_ into Beacon out of special consideration? Honestly, what is he thinking?" Raena said disdainfully as she violently sheathed her spatha onto her hip.

"I think Ozpin has been running this school long enough to know what he's doing, Rae." Kaede said calmly as she pushed her visor up to readjust her bangs. "The girl is probably just as capable as fighting Grimm as the rest of us."

"Whatever you say, Kaede," Raena replied with a shrug, her derision disappearing with the drop of a pin. "So, it looks like we're the first ones here?"

"It would appear so. Personally, I find it surprising that we got to the temple before any of the other pairs. It's already been two hours since the trial started."

"Maybe we're just better than them, Kaede," Raena grinned confidently as she slapped her friend on the back. "After all, we worked like clockwork when we took out those Ursa earlier."

"That's only because we've known each other for so long, Rae." Kaede returned her grin with a small smile. "How many years has it been since I found you outside of my summer home knocked out and bleeding? From a fallen tree branch no less?" She said teasingly, giving her friend a light shove on the shoulder.

"Oh, come on! You never let me forget that," Raena grumbled before revealing another smile. "It's not like I _wanted_ that tree branch to fall on my head. I was just twelve years old, give me a break!"

"Still, it gave me a fright. It's not every day you walk into Vale expecting to go shopping and instead find a girl bleeding to death on the side of the road. I remember the ruckus my father made when I dragged you inside covered in blood. He thought I was practically dying myself…" she said as her voice trailed off, her eyes losing the light that had been present in them earlier.

Raena noticed her friend go silent and realized that she flipped a switch. "Kaede? You alright?" she asked gently as she placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Is it about…"

Kaede held up a hand to stop Raena from going any further. "I'm fine," she said in a composed but cool voice. "Just remembering something unpleasant." She smiled reassuringly at Raena to assuage her fears, but that smile did not reach the pained expression in her eyes. "Come on, we're open targets in a clearing like this. Let's get back to Beacon so we can finally grab a bite to eat." At that, she started walking out of the clearing with Raena in tow. They walked about ten paces away from the temple before Raena suddenly came to a stop.

"Wait!" Raena exclaimed as she suddenly grabbed Kaede by the shoulder and pulled her into some nearby bushes. "Get down!" she whispered excitedly.

"Rae, what are you planning?" Kaede whispered back, curious as to what her friend was up to.

"I can sense people coming. Don't you feel like playing a little prank on them?" Raena gave Kaede a mischievous grin.

Kaede gave in with little resistance, too familiar to Raena at this point to know that when she got that grin on her face nothing she could say would stop her. "You're incorrigible, you know that?"

"Love you too," Raena whispered back in a sing-songy voice, her eyes eagerly scanning the forest for any sign of her "prey".

The two of them lay prone in their bush, careful not to make any movements. As the minutes passed, Raena's expression slowly changed from excited to confused. "Could I have been wrong? I swear I felt someone's presence approaching the temple from the opposite side of the clearing, but there's no one there."

"You know, I think the more interesting thing here is that the king's piece is missing now." Kaede gestured towards the pedestals that held the relics, and sure enough the white king was gone.

"What?!" Raena whispered, struggling to keep herself composed. "The pieces were all there when we got here!"

"It means that whoever it was you sensed slipped in underneath our noses and we never even saw them coming," Kaede said, unable to keep herself from smiling at Raena's distress. "It looks like you were outfoxed, Rae."

* * *

><p>Darien reemerged from the brush clutching the white king piece in his hand, which he nonchalantly tossed to Nieve. "I was right; someone else was there before us. The white queen piece was missing amongst the relics that were still at the temple."<p>

"Do you think they're still around here?" Nieve asked while fiddling around with the stone chess piece, entranced by the way it captured the sunlight.

"Oh, definitely. Their presence was more obvious than a clumsy man in a china shop, and they were oblivious enough to match," Darien said while he pulled the hood off his head to reveal his cobalt blue hair. "I could have walked right in front of them and they wouldn't have noticed."

"How _do _you do that anyway?" Nieve stopped fiddling with the chess piece to stare at Darien inquisitively.

"Do what?" Darien had already started to move away from their hiding spot, forcing Nieve to follow after him.

"You know, the freaky appear-out-of-nowhere shtick that you do. That seems like a neat trick to know," Nieve replied as he swatted at a nearby flying insect.

"It's not a trick." Darien glanced at him with obvious disdain. "And I don't 'appear out of nowhere'; I simply become harder to see." Seeing that Nieve still stared at him expectantly, Darien sighed and resigned himself to the task of having his partner comprehend him. "You know, if humans don't expect to see something, then they won't see it? Unseen movement takes advantage of environmental conditions and human behaviour to minimize visibility of your body while either staying still or moving from one place to another. It's also largely facilitated by the use of a camouflage cloak, which breaks up the body's shape and allows you to further blend in with your surroundings.

"Uhhhh...sure?"

Darien released another loud sigh. "Ok, I'm basically using camouflage and a certain way of moving through patches of shadows to make myself harder to see with the naked eye. It's not as simple as that, but right now really isn't the time to be telling you more about it in depth. Can we just get out of here for now?"

Nieve gave him a shrug. "Whatever you say, boss. I'm starting to get hungry anyway." As if to support his statement, his stomach growled noisily. "See?"

Darien rolled his eyes. "Let's just go." Turning around, he moved as if to make back for Beacon when he heard a large angry roar. _Ursa?_ Suddenly, an Ursa bear ripped through the woods beside them carrying what appeared to be a pink and a green figure on its back before quickly disappearing back into the foliage towards the temple.

"That's one hell of a way of moving around," Nieve said, whistling appreciatively. "We should have thought of that, Darien."

"Right. That sounds like a great plan, Nieve. You certainly are the pride of your village," Darien said blandly as he pulled a compass out of his satchel. _According to the position of the sun, we should be somewhere south of our starting point at Beacon. Professor Ozpin didn't say there was a time limit to getting back, so maybe I should scout out the area on my way back? Might be useful to start mapping out the area as well._ Darien nodded at this thought as he placed his compass back into his satchel and pulled out a pen and paper. "We're going to take a little detour on the way back, Nieve."

"What are you planning, boss?" Nieve asked, placing a hand over his stomach. "Please tell me it won't involve any more flying, I don't think my breakfast can take it anymore."

_We weren't even going that fast, you motion-sick twit, _Darien thought to himself, his face completely expressionless. "On second thought, _I'm_ taking a detour. Nieve, you go ahead and starting back towards Beacon. The cliffs are in that general direction," he said, pointing in a northerly direction. "Make sure you don't lose that chess piece. I'm going to be doing some scouting, so try not to get lost or killed. Just look at the sun and keep it to your left and you should stay on a relatively northerly course."

"Aye aye, boss," Nieve said grinning, giving Darien a mock salute before running into the woods.

The sight of his back was quickly lost amongst the foliage, and Darien sighed inwardly before prepping his wrist-bow's grappling hooks. "Time to get mapping, then," he muttered as he was propelled into the nearest tree.

* * *

><p>Three hours into the exam, and Nieve was completely lost. "Soooo… where is north again?" he asked himself, scratching at his head in confusion. It had been an hour since he and Darien parted ways, and Nieve didn't realize he had been walking in circles until he finally recognized a tree that he had already passed a while ago. Or was it just a tree that looked similar to it? "This may or may not be a <em>tiny<em> problem."

It was, in fact, a considerably larger problem than Nieve was making it out to be. Isolated, he made a perfect target for any group of Grimm looking for an easy meal. Not that he'd go down without fighting, mind you; but after everything that happened earlier, the fatigue had already seeped deep into his body. Even at this moderate jogging pace, he felt his movements become more sluggish. _Well, shoot. Maybe I should have gone with Darien after all. _

To make things worse, he was starving. "Ahh, if I had known it would take this long, I would have eaten more at lunch," Nieve said regretfully to himself, patting at his empty stomach. "Just wait, friend. I'm going to fill you right up!... as soon as I figure out how to get back."

As he stood there contemplating how exactly he would achieve this task, he heard sounds of fighting happenings nearby. _Should I go see if they need any help? Nah, it's too much of a hassle. I guess I'll just be on my way,_ Nieve thought to himself until he heard a girlish shriek echo through the woods. "It's a _girl?!" _ Without hesitation, Nieve began to run towards the fighting. After all, he couldn't let a girl get eaten by some Grimm. Especially if it's a cute girl!

"Never fear, Nieve Navarro is here!" he proclaimed loudly as he burst into the clearing, weapons in hand and ready to fight.

"How nice, it looks like we found a cute one, Kaede," a girl with a long green ponytail said as she blew her bangs out of her face. "He's even polite; I mean, he introduced himself and everything," she said with a smirk, trying hard to contain her laughter.

"Raena, it's not nice to laugh," the fully-armored girl said as she raised the visor of her helmet to reveal piercing grey eyes and a beach blonde bang. She smiled kindly at Nieve, although her eyes remained cold. "Thank you for coming to our aid, although it wasn't really necessary. Raena and I can handle ourselves quite well," she said, gesturing behind her at the fresh corpse of a Grimm.

Nieve whistled appreciatively. "That's a new one. I didn't know they came in giant spiders."

"We didn't either, until we came across it." Kaede casually sheathed her zweihander on her back before moving closer to examine the carcass. "Although the existence of giant scorpions would suggest that there would be insect counterparts amongst the Grimm."

"Eh, does it matter? We could pretty much kill anything that tried to come toe to toe with us, Kaede," Raena replied confidently before stalking up to Nieve and shoving him lightly in the chest. "So, why'd you come rushing over here in such a hurry? And that was one hell of a way of introducing yourself," she grinned as she stared up into his face. "Don't tell me you came in here thinking to rescue some damsels in distress, did you?"

"I confess, dear lady, that that was my intention; but to think the beauty of a rose can be coupled with the strength of a lion! I am captivated by the both of you," Nieve said charmingly, finishing it off with an elegant bow.

At this, Raena burst out laughing. "Kaede, this guy's a real piece of work!" she said as she held her stomach, shaking in mirth. "You could almost see the rose petals floating around him as he said that!"

"I think he's rather romantic," Kaede said evenly, her face the very image of calm. Only an amused glint in her eye betrayed any sense of emotion. "In any case, that was very gallant of you, Nieve. If you'd like, would you like to accompany us back to Beacon?" _In any rate, he looks like a capable fighter, and more numbers is always better against the Grimm. Plus, I feel a little sorry for him after Raena laughed at him so hard, although if he took any offense he didn't show it. _

"Of course, I would not hesitate to accept such an invitation," Nieve replied with a smile while his heart soared. _Score! Sorry Darien, maybe I'll save one for you whenever you get back! _

"L-let's get going then." Raena struggled to control her breathing after laughing so hard. "Follow me!" Waving to both Kaede and Nieve, Raena began to head off into the woods towards the direction of Beacon. "Just don't slow me down, Nieve!"

"Shall we, miss Kaede?" Nieve said while extending a hand.

"I think I'll decline. It's harder to handle a zweihander unless you have both hands free at all times," Kaede rejected him in an apologetic tone, opting instead to follow after her friend. "Let's get going, Nieve."

"If you say so." Nieve started off after his new companions, wondering where Darien was in the midst of all this. _I hope he's having fun with whatever he's doing. He seemed like an okay guy, although he really needs to lose some of that uptightness. Can't have him scaring the girls off, after all. _


	4. Cliffs

"Finally, it's done," Darien said appreciatively to himself as he finally placed his cartography gear back into his leather satchel. Laid out on the ground in front of him was a basic sketched map of the portion of the Emerald Forest between the cliffs and the temple, the fruit of the scouting he had done for the past hour. "There are still a lot of vague areas, but this should do for now. I'll draft a more formal map once I get back to Beacon. Now then," he yawned, stretching out his arms and legs as he stood up. "According to the map, I should be about a ten minute's walk from the cliffs. I guess I can do with a little light practice."

Darien reached into the power that was always flowing just beneath the surface of his conscious and activated his semblance, which he had dubbed shadow meld. A sense of extreme cold overtook his body as he melted into the shadows of the grove, his body now invisible to the naked eye. _I can never get used to that damn cold,_ he thought to himself, shivering as the cold passed as quickly as it had arrived.

Despite the constant strain on his body, Darien was glad shadow meld was his semblance. It manipulated his aura in such a way that he became the perfect form of a living camouflage in all but the most extreme cases: his body blurs and melts into the natural patches of shadows, with light bending around his body rather than reflecting off it. With this, he is able to move unseen by the naked eye, and supplemented by his unseen movements made him perfect for his self-appointed role as the scout and the spy.

As he continued to stalk through the forest, Darien felt his breathing become slightly heavier under the strain of maintaining his semblance, small lancelets of pain shooting through his lungs with every couple steps he took. _Looks like the dust in my lungs is reacting again_, Darien noted to himself as he continued striding through the woods. _I should be able to manage keeping this up until I reach the cliffs though._

"Should be" doesn't always mean "would be", unfortunately. As Darien reached the large clearing that opened up around fifty yards from the cliff face, he was confronted by a rather unusual sight.

From his current position, Darien could spy a figure attempting to scale the cliffs back up to Beacon while another figure watched on from the top. "The fool," he muttered derisively as he observed the figure's pitiful progress up the cliff face. While he himself did not know of a way to get back to Beacon, he was pretty sure professor Ozpin wouldn't force his students to scale a cliff. Besides, his mapping had revealed that there was a cable-car station about half a mile east of the cliffs which presumably led back to Vale. In fact, there were probably signs at the bottom of the cliff indicating the location of the station, which the climber had obviously ignored. "At least the partner had the good sense to use the damn cable cars. Whatever happens to the climber is not my business." As he turned to start walking towards the cable car station, he heard a voice cry out in alarm. The one climbing had suddenly lost their footing and was now visibly slipping off. _Blood. And. Bones. _

As the figure finally lost their grip and entered freefall from halfway up the cliff face, Darien dropped his semblance and immediately began running towards the base of the cliff. "Damn it, why me?!" he wheezed as the contraction of his lungs began to give him crippling pain. _She's falling too fast, I won't be able to reach her before she hits the ground. My lungs will only allow me to keep sprinting for a couple more seconds before I burn out completely. That leaves me with arrows or grappling hooks, but can I stay conscious long enough? Bloody bones, what a pain in the arse!_

Pain spasmed through Darien's lungs, causing him to clench his teeth. His breathing grew more haggard by the second, and without a moments hesitation he let his body react for him. Dropping a knee to the ground for stability, Darien felt himself reach behind him to pull an earth dust arrow from his quiver as his gauntlet expanded into a longbow in his left hand. With practiced skill, he notched the arrow and sighted his target before releasing his shot. Immediately he began notching his next arrow, knowing from experience that the trajectory was good.

Directly in the path of the falling girl, the earth dust arrow made contact with the cliff face and created a sloping ramp that she hit with a roll; with her trajectory drastically changed, Darien waited for the moment when she would roll off the ramp and released his second arrow, a special one made of a lightweight but strong titanium. He already began to collapse to the ground as his second arrow brushed her skin to bury itself into her blouse, the forward momentum carrying her into the nearest tree with a slam as she became pinned to the trunk.

The girl cried out involuntarily from having the wind knocked out of her lungs, but Darien did not hear; with his head pounding and his vision blurring, Darien could hardly bear to think anymore as his lungs struggled to pump the oxygen necessary for life to the rest of his body. _Damn it, I shouldn't have gotten involved… _was his last thought to himself as he finally blacked out from extreme pain and oxygen deprivation.

* * *

><p>Raena, Nieve, and Kaede were having a relaxing snack at a cafe in Vale, the team choosing ceremony not scheduled until eight that night. <em>Where is Darien, anyway? It can't possibly take this long to scout out the Emerald forest.<em> Nieve thought to himself, his brows creasing in concern. _Did something happen to him? What if he got eaten by a Grimm? _

"Nieve? You look worried," Kaede commented coolly as she blew elegantly on her still steaming cup of chamomile tea. Raena was making quick work of her ice-cream sundae with extra chocolate sauce when she looked up to see what Kaede was talking about.

"I do? I beg pardon, it's not seemly to trouble you with my burdens," Nieve replied, folding his hands out on the table in front of him. "It's just that I don't know if my partner has come back from the Emerald Forest yet, and I'm wondering whether or not he made it out by now."

"Come to think of it, you DID stumble upon us alone despite already having a chess piece," Raena said as she waved her spoon towards the protuberance on the side of Nieve's sash. "So you had a partner after all?"

"Yeah. We split up because he wanted to do some scouting in the Emerald Forest, and my stomach couldn't handle his preferred way of travel anymore," Nieve said sheepishly, embarrassed to admit the weakness of his stomach. "I just hope he's alright. He seems like a great guy, although he could really learn to loosen up a little bit." With a sigh, Nieve pulled out the white king's piece from his sash and began to twirl it around on his fingers when Raena suddenly grabbed it from his hand.

"Wha- how- Where in the world did you get your hands on this?!" Raena exclaimed as she burst out of her seat in shock. _No doubt, it's the same kings piece that was whisked away right under my nose at the temple! How did he get this?!_

"What? Oh, my partner retrieved it. He said we must have been the second ones there, though, because the white queens piece was already missing when he went into the temple to pick up the kings piece," Nieve replied as he scratched his head in confusion. "Why do you look so surprised?"

"Don't take it personally, Nieve." Kaede said calmly as she set her cup of tea atop it's saucer before reaching for a biscuit. As she turned to hold his gaze with her piercing grey eyes, Nieve could see the slightest smile play across her lips. "Rae is just sour that the prankster was outpranked."

"I was not out pranked! There was definitely something suspicious about the entire thing! I mean, you sensed that presence too, right? It's not natural that it could disappear and waltz away with the kings piece under our noses!" Raena pouted, struggling to rein in her emotions. "How did he pull it off?"

"Darien certainly is full of tricks," Nieve said lightly as he started sipping on his cup of hot chocolate. "Bugger scared the daylights out of me too, appearing out of nowhere from the brush like that. But he _did_ save my life from a pack of Grimm wolves, so there's that."

Kaede raised her eyebrows in slight surprise. "Did you just say Darien?" she asked while exchanging a quick glance with Raena.

"Yeah. Are you acquainted with him? Cobalt blue hair, kind of short, but packing some serious muscle, frameless glasses over his purple eyes?"

"Slightly. What a coincidence." Kaede replied impassively, returning her attentions to her tea.

Raena slumped into her chair, looking defeated. "He got me. I will _never_ hear the end of this as soon as he finds out," she groaned, too distraught to take another bite of her delicious sundae.

"Don't be like that, Raena. He wasn't all that bad yesterday at the ball." Kaede had finally finished her cup of chamomile and contemplated ordering another before deciding against it. "Although, I do feel he purposely tries to keep a distance between himself and anyone else.

At this, Raena made a face. "Let him, I don't want to catch his upper-cruster snobbiness. He's too self-satisfied by half for my liking."

"That's true, he _does_ kind of give off that 'I'm better than you' aura," Nieve mused as he polished off the last of the biscuits. He stood up with a sigh, his wavy black hair moving slightly to the wind as he stretched. "Unfortunately, ladies, it appears my time with you will have to be cut short. I'm heading back to Beacon to see if the faculty know what happened."

"We'd best be going as well. It wouldn't do to be late to our own team-choosing ceremony." Kaede stood up as well, calling the waiter over to pay for the bill.

"Madam, I would be more than honored to pay for the both of you," Nieve said theatrically with a bow, which caused Kaede to smile in amusement.

"There's no need, Nieve; Raena and I both know that you are quite chivalrous at this point." Handing over the necessary lien from her money purse, Kaede began to walk through Vale's downtown towards the skyship station that would take them to Beacon. "Let's go."

All in all, they made for an interesting sight as they strolled through Vale. People of all ages openly stared at the trio as they made their way towards the skyship; afterall, how many times do you see a fully armored knight walking next to a swashbuckler and a legionnaire?

"It seems that we're rather noticeable around here," Kaede observed nonchalantly as they continued at their relaxing pace.

"Yeah, I wasn't really expecting to be stared at this much," Nieve replied uneasily, scanning the crowds for any potential catcallers. _Do I look like a hick or something?_

"You're not from around here, are you Nieve?" Raena asked casually as she continued eating her sundae that she brought with her from the cafe.

"What makes you say that?" Nieve asked curiously, interested in knowing how she made such an accurate inference with barely any knowledge about him.

"Just a guess. And the way you still look at everything kind of wide-eyed. It just gives me the impression that you might be from out in the sticks somewhere in Vale," Raena said lightly as she scooped more chocolate ice-cream into her mouth. "Mmmmmm," she murmured happily as she savored the sensation of ice-cream melting on her tongue. "It'd also kinda explain why half the time your language is really flowery and the other half sounds more restrained like you're forcing yourself to speak a certain way."

"Is it really that obvious?" Nieve asked, the surprise obvious in his tone. "I thought that I had smoothed myself over after living in Vale for so long."

Raena and Kaede both nodded in sync. "Yep," said Raena as she jabbed Nieve's ribcage. "Don't even try to pull a fast one on us; unlike Kaede, I'm actually familiar with how country hicks try to hide the fact that they're from the country."

"Raena!" Kaede exclaimed in mock dismay, unable to contain the smile on her face. "But yes, Nieve. I did admit I found your behaviour slightly deviated from the norm here in Vale."

"Well, looks like the gig is up," Nieve sighed as he adopted his voice's normal tone. "Yeah, I come from a poor farming village about fifty kilometers west of Vale. There's not really much work opportunity for a guy like me over there except as a day laborer or a watchman, and that's not really the sort of thing I wanted to be doing," Nieve scratched his head thoughtfully. "I always thought the hunters stationed there looked pretty cool, so I said to myself, 'Nieve, for a guy like you, being a hunter is the best thing to do.' So I packed my bags and worked my way to Vale about 3 years ago. I've been working part-time as a dealer at the Angel's Ladder ever since, and now I've finally saved enough money to to go Beacon."

"Wait, so you were accepted into Beacon without any form of transcripts at all?" Kaede asked. "Also, isn't working at a casino illegal?"

"It isn't if you're lying about your age." Nieve winked conspiratorially. "Just don't tell anyone. And no, it's not as if I didn't have _any _transcripts. When I moved to Vale, I had enough money in my pocket to pay for my first year at Signal, and I've pretty much been able to carry on with my classes since then. It's been an on/off thing though; It's hard to disguise the fact that you're a student when you're employed in a prestigious casino. There were a lot of gaps in my training where there shouldn't have been, and that was probably what worked against me when I sent in my application. Still managed to get in though, which shows _just_ how good I am." Nieve flashed them a confident smile. "Although I kind of regret not being able to build my own weapon."

"Your secret is safe with us. Still, to get into Beacon with an education like that, your scores must have been pretty impressive."

"Ah, well… My physical scores were definitely above the margin, but my subjects suffered quite a bit. Not a lot of time to study when you're busy dealing cards. So I had to use some of the connections that I built working at the Angel's Ladder to pull some strings for me." Nieve saw the looks of surprise on their faces and shrugged in response. "Hey, I like to bend the rules a little. It's definitely better than having to pay to retake my final year of education at Signal to show I've got what it takes. I barely have enough money as it it between paying for my room and board, sending some back to my parents, and maintaining my weapons," he said with lament as he gestured towards the weapons on either side of his sash. "I'm working my way towards building my own multi-frame weapon, but at the moment I'm working with an Estoc, a Glock, and an Automag."

"I can feel for you," Raena nodded in understanding. "We peasants have to stick together in the face of the aristocracy, right Kaede?" she jabbed teasingly.

"Oh hush, Rae." Kaede let loose a genuine laugh. "Don't indoctrinate Nieve with your own ideas of how it should be between nobles and commoners."

"Help, Nieve, I'm being oppressed by the upper class!" Raena laughed as well, giving her friend a playful shove on the shoulder. "But seriously, I wish you the best, Nieve. You should hang out with us again sometime, you're pretty fun to talk with."

"Anytime my schedule allows," Nieve grinned.

The two of them exchanged a friendly handshake when Kaede got their attention. "Look, the next skyship is about to touch down. Let's get going." With that, the trio entered the station and purchased their tickets, their minds all thinking about the team-choosing ceremony that would occur later that day.


	5. Teams

Darien awoke to crisp white sheets and clean white curtains surrounding him, the scent of isopropyl lightly tinging the air. "Where am I exactly?" he muttered to himself before bringing a hand up to his head, as if it would assuage the ache that was presently there. He was about to close his eyes in a vain attempt to make the pain go away when a girl's voice brought him crashing back into reality.

"So you're awake. That's a relief, I thought I'd never get to thank you." Darien turned his head to see a girl with shoulder length black hair sitting at his bedside. She wore a red blouse that matched the muted mahogany of her eyes, which now stared worriedly into his own purple ones.

_But why does everything look so blurry? Ah, my glasses. _Darien reflexively reached out to the bedside table for his rimless glasses only to discover that there were neither glasses nor a bedside table next to him.

"Here are your glasses." The girl produced the glasses in question out of thin air and handed them to Darien, which he accepted while muttering his thanks. "Thank you for saving my life. I probably wouldn't have gotten out of that in one piece if not for you."

_In one piece? I harbor serious doubts that you would have even been alive if I had done nothing_, Darien thought sardonically. "How did I get here?" he asked gruffly, still not completely recovered from his earlier escapades.

"Ah, my partner managed to climb down the cliff and get me free from the tree, and we both dragged you over to the cable car station and took you back to Beacon's infirmary," she explained. "We thought you were going to die, collapsing on us like that. Why did you collapse anyway?"

Darien remained silent, only wishing for this girl to leave him alone now that he knew how he got here. Besides, he had no obligation to reveal anything about his past to a random girl he decided to save from her own idiocy.

The silence stretched awkwardly for a couple of minutes before the girl stood up to leave. "Well, you must be tired. I'll leave you alone to rest. Thanks again. I really appreciate it," she grinned as she gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

Darien almost jumped out of his skin, and it was only through the iron control he held over himself that he managed to stop himself from reflexively recoiling. "Why did you do that?" he asked calmly, careful to give no indication of the raging emotions that was tearing through his psyche.

"You looked like you needed one," the girl smiled mischieviously. "And besides, you're kind of cute when you're pouting." Turning to exit the door, she glanced back at him one last time. "The name is Elizabeth Ravenwood, by the way." Without even waiting for him to respond, she hastily exited the room, leaving Darien in the company of himself, much to his relief.

"Gods, how I hate women," he muttered unhappily to himself, rubbing the area where she had kissed him. "Never know how to deal with them, blast it all."

After he had calmed down, Darien considered his options. According to the clock on the wall, it was merely two hours before the team-choosing ceremony would commence, which meant that he could afford to sleep a little bit longer. "Not that I really need it," Darien said with a sigh as he moved his legs off the bed and stood up. Waiting a couple of seconds before deciding that his headache would not debilitate his coordination or sense of balance, he took in a couple deep breaths to judge the status of his lungs. "They feel fine. Perfect."

Confidently stepping towards the door, he donned his camouflage cloak that hung from a hook and placed the hood over his head before walking into the main corridor.

Leaning against the wall opposite of the entrance was a young man about the same height as him wearing clothing of various shades of grey. A silver amulet covered his left wrist as a sort of wristguard, his olive complexion hidden mostly by his long sleeves and gloves. The most striking thing about him, however, was neither his appearance nor the white feather stuck behind his ear but his penetrating gaze. Darien felt those dark silvery eyes scan over his appearance before returning his open stare. "So. What's your name?"

Darien considered ignoring him if not for the fact that those eyes made him feel profoundly uncomfortable, as if his soul was being bared out before this stranger. Steeling his resolve, he gave the stranger a stony stare. "What does it matter to you?" he replied coldly, only wishing to find somewhere he could be alone to eat and recuperate from the day's exertions.

"I was the one who was on top of the cliff. My name is Lunis Azure," the boy replied conversationally, extending a hand towards Darien as if to greet him.

Darien regarded the hand with contempt before returning his gaze to Lunis. "What business do you have with me?"

Lunis lowered his hand and shrugged. "I wanted to thank you as well. My partner is a bit …strong-willed. She wanted to climb back up the cliffs, so I decided to take the cable car up and wait for her at the top. I never thought that she'd lose her grip though," he said, his face painting an expression of lament. "I'm glad that you were able to save her. It appears you are a rather astute shot with that bow of yours."

"...I see." Darien was already beginning to detach himself from the conversation, mentally checking off a list of gear he should have on him. _Throwing knives, seaxes, quiver, gauntlets, satchel…When is this guy going to stop pestering me?_

Sensing that Darien was getting tired of his presence, Lunis opted to withdraw. _Although it would have been better if we could have become friends. We seem like we could be good allies. _"Well, thank you. Truly. If anything had happened to her, I couldn't forgive myself," he said, giving Darien a sincere smile.

"I'll be off then." Darien whirled around and started walking down the hall when Lunis called out after him.

"Wait! I never caught your name!"

"... Why do you want to know it?"

"No particular reason. Do you want me to follow you around until you tell me? Because I'm perfectly capable of doing so," Lunis replied with a straight face.

"So you say," Darien replied as he sighed. _Gods be damned. Whatever. I guess I'll never see him again anyway._ "It's Darien Du Corteaux," Darien said curtly before quickly turning to continue down the corridor. _If he does end up following me, I'll put an arrow between his damn eyes._ Even though he got what he wanted, however, Darien couldn't help but feel that he had lost, which only caused his mood to grow blacker.

"Darien du Corteaux," Lunis repeated the name under his breath as he watched the retreating figure disappear into a side corridor. "I'll look out for you, Darien. And maybe I'll figure out why you hate being around humans so much in the process." After all, his perception was rarely wrong; for some reason unbeknownst to Lunis, Darien truly hated being around people in general, which explained his coldness in the conversation just now. "I'll have to meditate on this later. As for right now, I suppose it's time to catch up to Elizabeth."

Closing his eyes, Lunis began to trace the swirling aura residue that was left behind when Elizabeth had left earlier. In his mind's eye, he spotted Elizabeth's scarlet aura going up the hall in the opposite direction of Darien, whose aura was surprisingly muted and very difficult to detect even though he had been in the area just moments ago. _That's weird…_ Filing away this inconsistency for later, Lunis began to stroll up the hall following Elizabeth's aura trail. While perusing Darien's character could wait another time, if he should leave Elizabeth to her own devices for too long the consequences would be too terrible to contemplate.

* * *

><p>"Darien!" Nieve called out loudly into the crowds, his tall height unable to pick out his partner from the other bustling students in the auditorium. "Where are you?!"<p>

"Just give it up Nieve! It's too chaotic in here to find him!" Raena yelled over the voices of the students around him while tugging on his sleeves. "You can find him when his name is called up for the ceremony!"

"I think we should listen to Rae," Kaede said calmly, her eyes scanning the crowd for a familiar head of cobalt blue hair. "It's certainly better than yelling yourself hoarse."

"Wait! I still have one more trick up my sleeve." Concentrating, Nieve reached into his aura and activated his semblance. When he opened his eyes again, time seemed to move like molasses as his eyes quickly scanned the crowd for his partner. _This is quite possibly one of the more trivial uses of bullet time,_ Nieve thought to himself as he felt his head turn slowly to the right to scan the right side of the auditorium. However, it did make things easier to see; with his perception of time slowed to about a tenth of a second, Nieve could easily pick out small details about other people that he would not have been able to notice previously due to the shifts in the crowd. As his head slowly turned to the left, he spotted a head of cobalt blue hair moving towards the center of the crowd at a snail's pace, and he immediately released his semblance. "Found him!" he said triumphantly as he immediately began pushing his way through the crowd.

Raena and Kaede exchanged confused looks with each other before following their tall, tan friend. "Nieve, what exactly did you do?" Raena asked curiously, struggling to keep up through the thick crowds.

"Trade secret, miss Raena," Nieve replied with a wink as he reached out and grabbed Darien by his right shoulder. "There you ar-"

Nieve's words were cut off as Darien immediately grabbed at Nieve's hand and moved until he had twisted it behind Nieve's back. Nieve suddenly gasped in pain, feeling the strain in his bones as his arm quickly approached the breaking point. "Uncle, uncle!" Nieve cried out, squirming underneath Darien's iron grip. Darien's facial expression was that of unconcealed anger, but the most daunting thing about him was how his eyes went completely cold and expressionless as they scanned over his captive.

When Darien realized who it was he had in his grip, he immediately let go of Nieve's wrist and regained his composure, his face void of emotion. "Sorry. I forgot to hold myself back because you surprised me," he said, his purple eyes not showing a hint of remorse. "Why are you with miss Engel and miss Argyros, Nieve?"

"I think the question here is, why did you just attempt to break your partner's arm?" Kaede asked, her face the very image of shock. "I did not judge you to be the type for random acts of aggression."

Darien shrugged nonchalantly. "He surprised me. It won't happen again."

Nieve rubbed at his arm, trying to figure out what just happened. "Yeesh, Darien. I'm never grabbing _you _by the shoulder again," he complained. "What the hell, man? Let your guard down a little, will you?"

Darien regarded his partner coldly. "If ever there was a day where I did 'let my guard down', that is the day that we'll both end up dead."

"You know, you could really knock off the high and mighty attitude. You keep acting like that, you might find a dagger in your back one of these days," Raena said dangerously, making no attempt to hide the obvious anger leaking into her voice.

"I invite you to try, Raena. You look like you have the stealth of a howling gorilla," Darien smirked, causing Raena's eye to twitch.

"At least I look like I could hold myself up in a fight! Look at you, you're a twig! I bet you're better at running away than you are at fighting. Go toe to toe with me and I'll skewer you with a sword, just you try me," Raena snapped, moving forward until she was face to face with Darien.

The two of them stood toe to toe, with Raena glaring while Darien simple stared back with disdain. Only the sound of professor Ozpin coughing into the mic caused the two of them to separate, albeit still regarding each other with hostility and indifference.

While Professor Ozpin was a charismatic man, the speech he wrote for the team-choosing ceremony seemed to drag on forever. Darien spent most of his time ignoring Raena, who was openly shooting him hateful glares. Kaede and Nieve exchanged awkward glances with each other as other teams were called up to be formed, wishing that this would all be over so they could separate into their respective teams (and get Darien and Raena away from each other). Finally, Darien's portrait appeared on the large widescreen monitors.

"Darien du Corteaux," Professor Ozpin called out first, causing Darien to move to the front and stand before the headmaster of Beacon. Raena flipped him the bird as he left, her face transforming to one of petty satisfaction before she heard Ozpin call up the next name.

"Raena Argyros." When her name was announced, Raena's face turned pale as she realized the implications of what was happening. Swallowing down her anger, she placed a wide grin on her face as she waltzed towards the stage in a show of enthusiasm.

"Kaede Engel." _This is turning out to be a perfect disaster. _Kaede thought to herself as she made her way through the crowd to stand by Raena, prepared to pull her friend away from Darien should she decide to launch herself at him. Although, the possibility of that happening was fairly low, no matter how much Raena might currently despise Darien. _After all, after what she's been through, she probably has a very tight control over her actions_. Kaede mused as she listened to hear the final name being called.

"Nieve Navarro." Nieve walked up to the stage drained of his usual vigor and confidence, unable to hide how upset he was over the current developments between his teammates. "The four of you will form team DRKN, or Drakon, lead by Darien du Corteaux. Congratulations," Professor Ozpin said warmly as he dismissed them from the stage.

A look of utter disgust flitted across Raena's face as she shook the professor's hand, taking care not to show her peers the rage that was burning in her heart. _I'm going to be stuck with that prick for the next four years? AND he's going to be team leader? Oh please, _She thought angrily to herself as she smiled pleasantly to the crowds.

_This is already going downhill and we haven't even gotten to our rooms yet_, Kaede thought to herself. Releasing a resigned sigh, she looked over to Raena and Darien who were still embroiled in their personal enmity. _How will I be able to deal with this tonight?_

As the newly formed team left the stage, Glynda Goodwitch handed Darien a packet containing four of the latest model of collapsible holographic tablets, the iScroll. "These are your Scrolls. Along with being used as your main form of identification, each Scroll has various sensory and interfacing functions such as aura bars, internet capabilities, and accessing student profiles stored on the database," she stated factually, adjusting her glasses so that they rested atop the bridge of her nose. "Be sure to keep them on you at all times, as they are also used to give you access to all of Beacon's various facilities; this would include your room, which happens to be room 429 in the Bronze Wing of the dormitories"

"Wait, are we all in the _same room?_" Raena choked out, hardly unable to contain her shock.

"Yes. Is that a problem?" Goodwitch asked, her eyebrows raised in curiosity.

_How can this not be a problem?! I have to be in the same room as that bastard!_ Raena screamed internally while giving Goodwitch a refreshing smile. "Isn't it normally against societal standards to allow students to dorm co-ed in closed quarters like this? I feel that girls rooming with guys at this particular age is dangerous for both parties."

"I would like to voice my objections as well," Darien said softly, his eyes staring unwaveringly at Goodwitch. "Rooming the four of us together is bound to create an unhealthy work environment in what is supposed to be a professional relationship between myself and my team."

"Rooming together is an important aspect of building team dynamics; you can't learn everything about your teammates until you've lived with them, which is why professor Ozpin started allowing co-ed dorming four years ago." Glynda replied, her eyes narrowing at what she thought was a rather poor excuse to avoid rooming with one another. "Now then, off you go. A late dinner will be served in about an hour should you feel the need to satisfy your hunger." With that, Glynda gestured for them to leave through the double doors at the back of the auditorium, something they complied with immediately.

As the newly formed team DRKN exited the auditorium, Raena quickly turned and faced Darien. "Why should _you_ get to be leader?" she hissed fiercely as she grabbed a fistful of Darien's shirt. "You're just some highborn snob who thinks he's better than everyone else."

"Better me than a gorilla who doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut. Do you have any sense for tactics at all?" Darien snorted derisively as he grabbed Raena's wrist. "Let go of my shirt."

"Why don't you _make _me?"

"Guys. Calm down." Kaede moved between them and grabbed both of their wrists before forcibly ripping them away from each other in a rare show of strength. "Stop making a scene. We can deal with this in the room."

"But Kaede-!" Raena started before she caught the look in Kaede's eye. "Fine." She muttered darkly, opting to instead shoot dirty looks at Darien as the team began the awkward walk to their room.

Nieve looked at his new teammates and gloomed. "Tonight is going to be soooooo fun," he mumbled to himself as he tried to figure out why exactly Darien and Raena already looked as if they wanted to kill each other.


End file.
